Silicon Valley venture capitalist Tim Draper introduced a ballot initiative that would split California into three states.
The plan proposes a central state made up of Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey and San Benito counties; a southern state consisting of Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Imperial, Kern, Kings, Fresno, Tulare, Inyo, Madera and Mono counties; and the remaining 40 counties would be part of a northern state. Critics opposing the initiative argue that splitting California would triple the State’s challenges and not solve them.
The initiative, called “CAL 3” has more than 600,000 signatures, enough to qualify for the November ballot and will be submitted to election officials next week. Splitting California into three states would require congressional approval.
Guests:
John Myers, Sacramento bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times; he tweets
Joseph Rodota, co-chairman of OneCalifornia, a committee opposing “CAL 3,” a ballot initiative proposing to split California into three states; he served as former aide to California Governors Pete Wilson and Arnold Schwarzenegger